Hyderabad Liberation Day will be celebrated in grand manner, says MoS Bandi Sanjay

Hyderabad, Aug 31 (IANS) Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, said on Sunday that the Hyderabad Liberation Day will be celebrated in a grand manner on September 17.

Union Minister Bandi Sanjay and Union Minister for Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy, through their posts on social media platform X, reacted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat' speech during which he recalled the courage shown by armed forces during Operation Polo to liberate the erstwhile Hyderabad State.

Union Minister Bandi Sanjay said that Hyderabad State, which was under the tyrannical rule of the Nizam, was merged into India by the 'Iron Man' Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel through Operation Polo in a very short time.

"We will grandly celebrate the Hyderabad Liberation Day that comes in the month of September. Let us remember the heroes who were part of Operation Polo," he added.

Union Minister Kishan Reddy said the Prime Minister paid homage and recalled the selfless sacrifices made by the people of Hyderabad and lauded the 'Operation Polo' led by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, which led to the liberation of Hyderabad from the clutches of the oppressive Nizam rule.

"PM also highlighted how Hyderabad had to wait till September 17, 1948, to celebrate Independence and evoked the words of the 'Iron Man of India' Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel," he added.

"Recalled the courage shown by our forces during Operation Polo. Our Government's decision to mark September 17 as Hyderabad Liberation Day has been deeply appreciated, especially by the people of Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra," the Prime Minister posted on X.

During his speech during monthly radio programme 'Mann ki Baat', Prime Minister Modi plated a voice record of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

"You can feel the pain in his words as he speaks about the events of Hyderabad. Next month in September, we will also be observing Hyderabad Liberation Day. It is in this very month that we remember the courage of all those brave heroes who took part in Operation Polo," the Prime Minister said.

"As you all know, when Bharat attained Independence in August 1947, Hyderabad was in a very different situation. The atrocities of Nizam and the Razakars were increasing day by day. Even hoisting the Tricolour or saying 'Vande Mataram' could cost one's life. Women and the poor were oppressed," he added.

"At that time, Babasaheb Ambedkar had also cautioned that this issue was becoming extremely grave. Finally, Sardar Patel took the matter into his own hands. He prepared the government to launch Operation Polo. In record time, our armed liberated Hyderabad from the Nizam's tyranny and integrated it into Bharat. The entire nation celebrated this great success," he said.

The Union government had last year decided to celebrate September 17 every year as the Hyderabad Liberation Day.

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a gazette notification in this regard.

--IANS

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